A deer stands in a yard in November 2016 in Oxbow North Township. About 100 people weighed in at a public hearing Wednesday in Brewer about a proposal to change some development restrictions in the state’s Unorganized Territory, with most saying it could lead to further fragmentation of Maine’s North Woods. (Micky Bedell | BDN)

A deer stands in a yard in November 2016 in Oxbow North Township. About 100 people weighed in at a public hearing Wednesday in Brewer about a proposal to change some development restrictions in the state’s Unorganized Territory, with most saying it could lead to further fragmentation of Maine’s North Woods. (Micky Bedell | BDN)

Proposal could create ‘retail hubs,’ sprawl in Maine woods

Officials who oversee development in the state’s Unorganized Territory were urged Wednesday to not make rule changes that critics say could create sprawlin the Maine woods and undermine development in northern municipalities.

Officials who oversee development in the state’s Unorganized Territory were urged Wednesday to not make rule changes that critics say could create sprawl in the Maine woods and undermine development in northern municipalities.

Approximately 100 people attended a public hearing Wednesday in Brewer by the Land Use Planning Commission to solicit comment on a proposal that would change the commission’s development restrictions in the state’s Unorganized Territory, which comprises more than 10 million acres of land, mostly woods, that lie outside the boundaries of Maine’s cities and towns.